Even Brazil’s selection will be enough if Uruguay loses at home to Argentina on Friday, with Brazilian media reporting that coach Tite is already planning to head to the Arab Cup in Qatar next month to look at the World Cup venues and facilities.
However, publicly, Brazil boss Tite is not moving forward with a trip to face his arch-rivals Argentina in San Juan on the horizon next week.
“We have two very important games against two teams, which are very good for me,” said Tite.
“Doing well and the good result against Colombia will prepare us for Argentina.”
Tite did wonders to remember Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho on his team after being out for more than a year, mainly due to a nine-month absence due to a knee injury that required three operations.
“It feels like it happened for the first time, it’s the way I see it every time I’m in the team. It’s a privilege to wear this jersey,” said Coutinho, who struggled during his season with his club.
Brazil won one of the ConMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, won 10 of 11 games, and scored 26 goals.
Their only mistake was a 0-0 draw with Colombia last month that ended the nine-match tournament. Another tough game will be against a consecutive team with three goals in a row.
Colombia welcomed midfielder James Rodriguez for the first time this year despite a disappointing start to Al-Rayyan, his new Qatari club.
Last month, in his only third league game since leaving Everton, the former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder was sacked after receiving two quick yellow cards in protest after receiving a free-kick.
The replacement for James is a good opportunity for Colombia, which will be without veteran striker Radamel Falcao.
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